The sestina is not the most popular form to write to these days. However, a book of sestinas was published in 2014 which sparked an interest in the form1. Admittedly it is a form that takes some time to fully appreciate.
The sestina is a twelfth century French form attributed to Arnaut Daniel. It is a form closely related to blank verse but involves lexical repetition and not rime. There have been several variations in its form, some successful, some not. For most, it is a challenge, not necessarily Swinburne-like, but to be able to use the form in an elegant manner. It is the flow that is important. There are some variations that would challenge the reader in accepting that they are classified as sestinas because they depart so far from the traditional form.
The sestina is a thirty-nine-line poem consisting of six sestets and a final tercet called the envoi (a sort of farewell from the poem itself) to give a conclusion to the poem. This sounds simple enough, but there is a fixed order that determines the pattern of repetition2. Add to this, the same six words appear in prescribed position in the envoi. No mean feat whatsoever!
The six repeated words are always repeated at the end of the verse; these words are sometime called teleutons and they should not rime. To have these words rime destroys the beauty of the sestina form itself. The beauty of the sestina is that the end words do not rime, but they create a startling effect by their repetition. Swinburne developed a pattern for a rimed sestina, but this imposed rime does little, if anything for the form.
The format of the traditional sestina is fixed with the order of repetition not only in the sestets but also the finishing tercet. If the six teleutons are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 then the order of their appearance at the end of each verse in the stanza is:
Stanza 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Stanza 2: 6 1 5 2 4 3
Stanza 3: 3 6 4 1 2 5
Stanza 4: 5 3 2 6 1 4
Stanza 5: 4 5 1 3 6 2
Stanza 6: 2 4 6 5 3 1
The envoi is subject to its own restrictions:
Verse 1: 2 5
Verse 2: 4 3
Verse 3: 6 1
where the first is embedded in the middle of the verse and the second appears at the end of the verse.
In the case of each verse in the sestina, each line is written in iambic pentameter, although decasyllabic meters have been used with similar (although not a pleasant) effect.
Among the variations, enjambment is likely the most popular and effective. One of the problems, likely the biggest or noticeable one, is that the end words can become obtrusive. In other words, they start to become obvious and distracting if the reader is to pause or stop at the end of each verse. The use of enjambment can overcome this difficulty by making the reader continue to the next verse, thereby disguising the obviousness of the end words.
Other techniques are to use homophones, homonyms or elision. Although not strictly staying with the lexical repetition per se, the homophone (same pronunciation, different spelling) can create a pleasant variation. Homonyms (same spelling, different meaning) too can have a similar effect, but some have a different pronunciation which can ruin the lexical repetition if used too often. Elision does not occur too often but is possible with the eliding of the (generally) first vowel where appropriate.
One possible process to carry out in constructing the sestina is to write the tercet first. A tercet can be difficult to write, so it may take a few attempts. Once this is done, it is only a matter of choosing the end words and an appropriate middle word to determine the teleutons.
In the following example the teleutons have been highlighted, mainly to show their position in the envoi.
The Snatchers
In dusty moonbeams, harpies3 dance around
An angry fire that cursed the spiteful breeze —
They seem to lack the rhythm in a way
That each one moved, contorting to a song
In strange and varied movements, chanting loud,
Those guttural moans that echoed through the night.
An ancient dance performed this darkest night,
Surrounds the fire, as shadows gather ’round,
And dance in silence as the chant rings loud
To flit away and stutter in the breeze —
Those half-rent sounds compose another song
That sings its dirge and passes on its way.
But woe betide cruel souls who come their way,
For misery may visit those tonight
Who boast and sing a vile and cheerless song
Whilst casting lots, content to laze around,
Enjoying laughs and life’s cool summer breeze
In rowdy sounds, obnoxious, crude and loud.
Although this din the harpies danced was loud,
They ceased all movement, turned their heads one way,
Their feathers bristled, fluttered in the breeze —
Excitement burned in harpies’ hearts this night.
Then one so bold, she whispered, Gather ’round —
We’ll snatch these fools!, and all burst into song.
Though evildoers, killers hear their song,
(‘Tis whispered soft, but in their mind rings loud.)
They never notice ’til the scene around,
Becomes a frenzy — harpies block their way.
With talons cruel, they snatch this bloodied night,
And punishment is meted on the breeze.
The winds awake! Farewell the gentle breeze,
‘Tis no more calm, and wicked is its way
As harpies torture victims through the night,
Their punishment is just in screams so loud
Which may convince another change their way,
For snatchers hide, but always are around.
If pleasant breezes vanish, then a loud
Wild song in windy voices blows your way —
Beware the night, the snatchers are around.
Ferrick Gray
Lexical Repetition/Teleutons:
around, breeze, way, song, loud, night